One of the first things that we always recommend to the organisations that we talk to is that they need to think about backup. You always hear people say “fail to plan, plan to fail” and it’s the same when it comes to your technology. If you fail to plan for a disaster or something going wrong then when that does inevitably happen you will be left with a serious problem.
Once you have a backup in place, the second thing that we recommend is that you test that backup. Your data is a precious asset for your business, it’s what makes it run. If you lose data then you may be struck with downtime which can cause you to lose revenue. You’re relying on your backup in this event, and if you’re relying on something that much you want to be sure that it will work when you need it to. You don’t want to to be in the situation where you desperately need your data and you can’t access it because the backup has failed.
In this blog, we’re going to explain the reasons why you should be considering testing your backup and what the benefits are.
Physical Disasters
Having a fire or flood on site will cause your business major problems and those problems will only get worse if your server has been damaged in the process and you have lost all your data. Physical damage can have just as much of an impact as a cyber attack.
In this event you would need to call upon your backup to recover your data. If the server is damaged you will be relying on your backup to get your business back up and running. We recommend testing the backup to ensure that when events like these occur you know you can rely on the precautions you have put in place.
Cyber Attack
Your business is under attack right now. Whether that’s through someone actively trying to take over your systems or sending you a phishing email with a malicious link. Your business is currently under attack and you are relying on the security measures you have in place to protect you.
Sometimes those precautions you put in place just aren’t effective. Sometimes cyber attacks are developed too quickly for your Firewall or Anti-Virus to be able to deal with the issue. If you lose all your data you want to know that you can rely on your backup to get you out of trouble. By making sure you are testing it regularly you know you can rely on it in the event of an attack.
Hardware Failure
Sometimes hardware just gets old and unreliable. If your server fails you will need to recover your data from your backup. You don’t want to be in a situation where you need to replace a server and have lost all your critical business data. If you’re testing your backup regularly you will know it’s reliable for when you need it (even if your server isn’t).
It Might Not Work
There’s an urban legend in the IT industry about a backup that did not work. An IT Manager in London used to backup his company’s data and take it off site every day. He would travel home on the London Underground. Every day the magnetism from the trains would wipe the backup. We don’t know how true this story is but it just goes to show that you need to know that your backup actually works and is doing what it should. You don’t want to get a point where you need to rely on your backup and a set of data is missing or the timings are wrong. If you’re going to rely on something you need to make sure it works.
Wrapping Up
If you don’t test your backup then you don’t have a backup. You can’t trust that what needs to happen is happening. If you regularly test your backup solution even just once or twice a year then you will be confident that when a disaster does strike you will be able to restore your data. If you’re concerned about your backup solution or would like to test it then please call ACUTEC today on 01675 469020 or email hello@acutec.co.uk.
